Are you asking what a person uses to decide on what line or approach they use for jumping lines? Your approaches and turns are made fully knowing your horse's athletic ability and the length of stride. A rider should use subtly different lines on every horse they ride. Riding "cookie cutter" lines with every horse is a recipe for bad jumping technique.

I think she's talking about the kind of class where all the jumps are set up to be jumped both ways and you make your own course. The goal is to jump clean, jump all the jumps [or a certain number of jumps], and have the fastest time.

We don't often have it but it's a great way to test your know-how. If you often succeed in take your own line classes then you will have good spacial awareness that allows you to take the shortest line to every jump and choose the course that will cover the least amount of ground.

Sorry, all I know about take your own line is that jumps are set up in a ring, and you have to figure out your own course, jumping all the jumps in under two minutes, but that's all I know and like anything horse related, it has to be more complicated than that!

It's sounds like a variation of Gambler's Choice around here, the fences have a point value, and your strategy involves jumping the high point value fences as early and often as possible.

My approach would be first, to look for the obvious direct routes and related fences, and then start looking for places where I can cut the turns more agressively and save time.

I'd also keep normal course design considerations in effect - I wouldn't want to start my course with a maximum oxer or a combination, I'd look for 2 - 3 relatively easy fences to start with, maybe with related distances, and then add in the more difficult elements.

I would also bring a pad or whiteboard, and draw the fences as soon as they're set. I'm a very visual learner, so I would need to draw and redraw the possible line and course options until I felt I had the best one.

Thanks, that's a really good idea! Will do, we're doing 2 regular classes and the take your own line, the hit and hurry was too high.
Another quick question, I thought I knew what crossing your tracks was, but someone said something about it the other day and confused me, what exactly does it mean?

It basically means circling. If you circle between jumps that is counted as a refusal, because you can't cross your own path. If you cross a path you have already taken but you have jumped a jump it doesnt count as crossing your path - like if you did a jump on a rollback turn you would probably cross your path, but not until after you have jumped the jump. Im not sure how to explain it with out physically showing you so I hope this makes sense !!

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